I just have a few questions.... Mostly about how you got in the path you are in.

I will answer my questions as I go...

What are you looking in being in the IT business?: I myself want to be a CFE/CHFI in my life.

What languages do you learn (What languages are you planning on learning?): I know Python, Perl, PHP, HTML, C (Learning) and C++(Learning), I am planning on learning Ruby, though.

How did you get into IT? I as a child, was a tad adventurous, I really liked computers, and I liked to freak out my friends. So... I first did what all kids do (CMD > Color A), and then I really got into it! I started looking for videos in hacking, then I took from there and started getting very into it in a way.

Have you ever done a Bug Bounty? I have. I have found 2 XSS's in Google, and I have audited software.... (The truth is.... I didn't audit the software... I used a program... It's cheating but I needed the money...)

Would you or have you ever done anything potentially illegal but in the right cause? While most of you might say no... I will be honest. Yeah. I have. I really follow 'Anonymous Operations' I'm not a fanboy, but I really like what they do. I have hacked some websites in the name of #OpHK, #OpChina, #OpUSA and #OpIsrael.... I am not proud of it, but I had the skills necessary to do it and I did! I have fully left the life of a 'vigilante'... While I would do it again if I wanted to be completely honest.

And... My final question is...

Are you planning on doing IT for your entire life? My answer is of course... Yes. :)

44 Responses

I've been interested in tech for a long time. I first started experimenting with Windows 98/2000 (I can't remember which one), but it wasn't much. I guess it truly started when I hacked my Wii and thought Whoa, that was awesome! Let's do it again! I got into developing WiiBrew just before it died (;_;), as I was going to install Linux on it.

I tried bug bounty for Facebook, but they didn't accept the bug I found. They dismissed it as a false-positive, but it does leak a bit of personal info (no, I'm not giving it to you).

#OpC3 ;)

Planning, yes. But knowing life, there is a chance that won't happen. I'm also (ironically) into agriculture.

Freelance penetration tester, I have the opportunity to work in the USA, EU, and Australia without requiring working visas.

What languages do you learn (What languages are you planning on learning?)

I don't consider myself a master of any of them; I learn something new every day. But I'm most proficient in HTML, Python, C, C++, VB.net, and Ruby.

How did you get into IT?

I went through some bad stuff when I was 12, struggled with everything. When I was 14 I started to delve into the world of computers, loved every second of it. I had control, which is something I didn't have at the time. It has gone from there.

Have you ever done a Bug Bounty?

No.

Would you or have you ever done anything potentially illegal but in the right cause?

i don't really want to become a pentester, but i want to make and discover 0days.

i mostly code C++ and C (as you could already guess from my tutorials). but i am also really good in C# and i know some python, HTML and bash scripting.

i started "hacking" with legos when i was like 3 years old. i took a building set, i began to build it by following the instructions on paper, and then i disassembled it again and made something completely different out of it. later, i learned more and more about computers, and started using them for what they were not intended to do.

yes, but for a pretty small and local company (they payed me 500 euros for discovering a SQL injection vulnerability in one of their web apps).

Knowledge of itself, mostly. It's a means and an end.And money, too, if I can get it out of what I know.

What languages do you learn (What languages are you planning on learning?)

HTML, CSS, SQL, BASH, C (I started learning but I left it), Python (struggling with classes, pretty newb-ish), and I started checking out JavaScript a few days ago.

How did you get into IT?

I started using PC's when I was 2. I re-installed windows on PC or the first time when I was 8. After I finished high-school, I didn't feel like going to college, so I went to a 3-day-course of Notebook repairing and I found a job out of that, and then another stating that one as experience, and then another one where I guided people who repaired PC's for one of the largest computer sellers in my country. Then I worked behind a website using some SQL, but I just used it for querys, never for making a new db.

Have you ever done a Bug Bounty?

Nope.

Would you or have you ever done anything potentially illegal but in the right cause?

I may have, I don't have a good memory. I never did anything harmful to anyone.

Are you planning on doing IT for your entire life?

Life's too long to plan something for the whole of it, I may open up a restaurant someday (I love cooking).

Let me start from the beginning: I got my first computer — an IBM i486 with 2 MB of RAM (MEGABYTES!) — when I was 10 years old (I'm in my 30s now) so I've been around computers a LONG time. We're talking mid-1990s here. There was a kid a few years older than me who lived next door and was absolutely fascinated with computers. When he found out I had one, we instantly started hanging out every day after school. He is BRILLIANT with computers, and we would sit there and tinker (read: break things) for hours, trying to figure out every aspect we could.

Fast forward a few years and my high school was one of the first in the state to offer programming classes as electives. I took HTML and C++ classes my junior and senior year. The concept of programming is more valuable than any specific language since the flow of the program remains the same whether you're using C#, C++, Java, Python, Perl, etc. etc.

Even in college I took a few classes here and there about system architecture and database administration. A few more programming classes like COBOL (yes, COBOL) and Java. My point is, there isn't a quick and easy way to learn "hacking". You really have to have a good working knowledge of what's happening behind the scenes to troubleshoot, because honestly, no two hacks are going to be the same. There are just too many variables involved. Knowledge of programming languages is a must unless you want to be considered a script kiddie.

Most recently I've been working a lot with Python and learning more and more about Linux and pen testing. This site has been an absolute amazing resource.

Honestly, I'm looking for a fun and supportive career path, and making games just doesn't do it for me. To me, programming and making a game is a long and boring process. I once tried programming a GBA game, and I didn't like it, so I just threw the whole code away and decided to be done with it, and as such, I haven't touched programming again. (was coding it in C, with an ARM compiler. It's a program called HAM) So, I've forgotten what I know of C. All in all, I wanna be a freelancing pentester and IT security guy.

What languages do you know (What languages are you planning on learning?):

I know HTML, and Batch, and I am planning on learning Ruby, Python, Perl, PHP, Lua, C (again) and C++. And also this weird language that starts with an H? I can't remember the name of it for the life of me.

I've heard Functional Programming is pretty hard (but some people say it shouldn't be feared, meh). If you lost your patience coding a game, I don't think you should try Haskell yet.

Personally I think someday I will, as I've heard also that it's a really, really powerful language. But first, I want to know what would I use it for. For pentesting, C and Python seem to be the preferred ones, along with Ruby (Metasploit) and Javascript (BeEF)

When I got my first smartphone, (at about 12), I started looking up on how to root my phone and get free stuff (bad, I know. And don't ever root your phone just to get free stuff. There are way better things that can come out of a rooted phone, like WiFi pentesting, and wireless security.) And it took off from there. I got my first laptop at 13, and was always looking for ways to mod windows and such. I got interested in the windows CMD prompt, and I was writing batch scripts like crazy (my favorite was a calculator I made). Showing them to my friends at school, and they were like, "awesome!, teach me!" and so then, within a few days, (our school PCs were on one network) Me and my group of friends just started rebooting PCs with hilarious messages like "Killroy was here" and "You've been hacked!", and we almost got kicked out for that lmao. But then, after a few years of trying to mod, and program games, I got into pentesting (at about age 14) And I was using tools all willy nilly, not giving a care in the world(ugh, dumb skidd me lol). Age 15, I chillaxed, and got my first Gaming PC for christmas and gamed. Now, recently, I've picked up hacking again. Except hacking, the right way. And I'm about to turn 17 in Nov.

lol, same here. If Chromebooks or laptops weren't working, I'd get called by teachers to go out of class to fix stuff. It's pretty funny to look back on, but the IT weren't as stupid for us. They had student computers on a different network than teachers, but they didn't lock up developer mode on the Chromebooks. ;) I was constantly connecting to other Chromebooks via Bluetooth and monitoring their WiFi packets. It's good that Google included a Linux shell in Chrome OS. :)

There was one coincidence, though, when the student's Chromebook I hacked immediately set off a loud noise, but they had just coincidentally had their sound all the way up and accidentally clicked on something that played the sound... but for a moment there, I thought I was screwed! XD

Yeah, I went pale... but I was in a corner so no one saw me. Other people who figured out how to find the standard terminal (CTRL + ALT + T) really bothered me because they opened it up, typed "ping," and told me they were hackers... I hate the people who do that.

I'm being a but hypocritical here, and although it wasn't as bad as ping, I used to think that I was hacking with the nbtstat command. lol

I also remember when I thought Metasploit was the hardest, most advanced hacking tool ever. XD It looked so intimidating in the terminal, being a Windows user all my life... and then Linux changed it for the better. I'm never going back to GUIs! :D

There's a famous saying, "For every glossy GUI button, ten commands are left out." I love that. This is even applicable in Windows. You can password-protect a folder, but only from the command line. But for everything else, the little CMD is just to weak to do the other system functions. Powershell was an improvement, but still now as powerful as the Linux Terminal.

Ooooh, a spoiler? where? :D Lmao. Also, (a spoiler from me) I'm thinking, that after I'm all done with hacking OS reviews for Linux (Which will take quite a while) I may start doing reviews on tools for Android devices. (hacking related tools, that is)

EDIT: Never mind on the spoiler. I think I know what you're getting at. ;)

Have you ever done a Bug Bounty?Nope, but that's what I want to start doing.

Would you or have you ever done anything potentially illegal but in the right cause?

Hmm. Well, yes and no. I wouldn't 100% consider it "the right cause" per say, but I helped with the Scientology dispute with LOIC. ) I do regret it however, because it was nefarious and wrong to help DDoS an organization for nothing other than to get a simple point across.

(Although, I wish i could've been at the March on Wall St. That looked so cool.)

Are you planning on doing IT for your entire life?

Absolutely! It seems fun and ever changing, always adding new challenges to face and such, along with having the good feeling that I'm helping with the betterment of the online community.

Still just hungry of knowledge. When reached the top, incident response is the most fascinating occupation I can think of in the IT field for me.

What languages do you learn (What languages are you planning on learning?)

Let's say that if you give me a manual, I'll be able to understand most of them. I have been experimenting a lot (python, html, c#, c++), but never got into studying one in every aspect. For various reasons, C is probably the one which I'm trying to

How did you get into IT?

My father transferred this passion to me. He was going to be an early computer developer when he was studying, but then changed to his real passion. He used to show me all the fascinating things about computers and how do they work when I was young, and I'm still mind blown by the geniality of these pieces of modern technology.

Have you ever done a Bug Bounty?

No.

Would you or have you ever done anything potentially illegal but in the right cause?

As far as running in smoking trough the streets at night with "gonna fly now" playing in the background, no, I haven't.